Modi government will pay heavily for atrocities: Jignesh

Dalit leader from Gujarat, Jignesh Mewani, on Wednesday said the Narendra Modi government will have to pay a heavy price for "the atrocities being committed on Dalits" across the country.

The newly-elected member of Gujarat Assembly said a nationwide movement would be launched on the issues faced by the youth in general and Dalits in particular.

The youth leader met Dalit leader Manda Krishna Madiga in Chanchalguda Jail here and demanded his immediate release.

Manda Krishna, a leader of Madiga -- a sub-caste among Scheduled Castes (SC) -- is fighting for categorisation of SC reservation.

Terming Manda Krishna's arrest as illegal and unconstitutional, Jignesh said no government or police had a right to curtail individual liberty or fundamental and constitutional rights even if they did not agree with his demands.

Jignesh told reporters outside the jail that in the coming days, Manda Krishna and other Dalit and progressive organisations would forge a broad alliance to fight for reservation and land rights.

"Land is a subject close to my heart. In Gujarat, I am demanding five acres of land and here he (Manda Krishna) is seeking three acres of land for every landless," he said.

Jignesh said he also planned to launch nationwide youth movement on the issue of unemployment. They discussed various issues like policy of reservation, self-respect and economic upliftment of Dalits.

They also discussed his visits to Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and other southern states, he added.

--IANS

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